Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Queen

Great and entertaining movie. Mostly excellent casting, superb acting and well written. No-one could have played the Queen better than Helen Mirren. However, while I conceed the archival footage is accurate and some of the public scenes, I doubt very much else is.

Our Queen is a confident and decisive woman and quite surely ready to recognise if she has made an error of judgement and will readily correct such an error. She is not a doubtful woman who sits around and ponders in a melancholic manner.

A few things that distracted me during the movie:

Watch how many black hunting dogs bound into the Land Rover and how many leap out.

The royal she, did not need to remind a lackey on her Balmoral estate that she knew how motor cars work. He would have full well known that. We all know she knows how pre 1945 motors work and how to drive them.

Still dial phones at Balmoral when Princess Diana died? Maybe. Perhaps because she only ever picked up the receiver and never actually dialled out.

Tony Blair talking to Her Maj from his own home on a nineties cordless phone. Bit of a security risk I would have thought.

But don't let me spoil it. It was enjoyable and at times a moving movie.

Best role goes to the bolshie Cherie Blair character, but Prince Philip was good too.

Always pro Di. Anyone who puts efforts into getting rid of landmines is good in my opinion and along with educating and caring about Aids victims in a very natural manner. And as an educated English chick, having an arab boyfriend shows tolerance and an open mind. It has made me think a bit about the Queen though.

Yes, Diana had a few photo-ops with aids babies and anti-landmine activities (before she dumped all her charitable commitments in 1996), but her PR events paled in comparrison to the longterm, substantial commitments of other Royals--most notably Princess Anne-- to scores of charitable causes.

And while the "people's princess" remains the icon of superficial popular culture, the Royal family knew a very different, darker character behind the facades of glamour and pseudo-compassion.

Both Diana and her brother, Charles Spencer, suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder caused by their mother's abandoning them as young children. A google search reveals that Diana is considered a case study in BPD by mental health professionals.

For Charles Spencer, BPD meant insatiable sexual promiscuity (his wife was divorcing him at the time of Diana's death). For Diana, BPD meant intense insecurity and insatiable need for attention and affection which even the best husband could never fulfill.

Clinically, it's clear that the Royal family did not cause her "problems". Rather, Diana brought her multiple issues into the marriage, and the Royal family was hapless to deal with them.

Her illness, untreated, sowed the seeds of her fast and unstable lifestyle, and sadly, her tragic fate.

As for Diana, for anyone to go out and perform the duties that she did with the problems she had, she had guts. The personality problems came down from Earl Spencer, a bully and known to give Di's mother a clout or two. The current Earl is going for his 2nd divorce at the moment.

I have just read the book by bodyguard survivor Trevor Rees-Jones which has in it an interview with a crew member of the Jonikal, the yacht they left when they travelled to Paris. The crew guy said that after The Crash, he got home to find a thank you note from Diana 'for making her yacht stay so pleasant'.Prince William is marrying a hard-faced and calculating girl, unlike his mother, knowing that she will not easily be knocked about by That Family.

They do kill people:"A FORMER pageboy to the Queen and lifelong friend of the Prince of Waleshas been accused of encouraging his former gamekeeper to rid his Perthshire grouse estate of eagles by poisoning them.Ian Thomas, 42, has taken Lord Anthony Tryon to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair and constructive dismissal.He further claimed: "Lord Tryon also said earlier that day:"I have bought an estate and I will do what I like"

Tryon has previously had his wife (a Melbourne girl) killed, in an attempt to find for his friend Charles, a cache of loveletters which MUST be retrieved before Camilla becomes Queen.

My public diary, not my private one. I live in a highrise apartment building in inner Melbourne. My interests are varied but top of the list are old buildings, history and public transport. You will find plenty of personal experiences to read in my blog too. Just be aware I am not an historian, amateur or otherwise. While I make some effort to be accurate, I don't do proper methodical research so I advise you check all details on your own behalf should you wish to quote me. Your comments are very welcome, but try to be nice to my fragile yet overblown ego. I enjoy receiving email. You can find my eddress in my complete profile.